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Work on the Central Subway project is progressing on schedule to be completed and operational by December 2019, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). The $1.6 billion project will extend the existing, mostly underground Third Street rail line from the 4th Street Caltrain Station to Chinatown, bypassing heavy traffic. Three new underground stations and a new street-level station along the 1.7-mile extension of the rail line are under construction in Chinatown, Union Square and the Moscone Convention Center.

At the end of January, Urban Pacific Development LLC and Hines submitted a revised proposal for their project in the Transbay Transit District. The developers purchased Parcel F, at 542-550 Howard Street, from the Transbay Joint Powers Authority for $160 million in 2016. Proceeds from the sale will help fund construction of the Transbay Transit Center, with Parcel F being the final major skyscraper site in the Transbay district.

IBEW Local 6 Assistant Business Manager Kevin Hughes retired earlier this month after 24 years. Hughes served as City Representative for the union, representing public sector electrical workers in San Francisco after working as an inside wireman in the private sector and for the City for several years.

Union, business and community leaders, as well as colleagues in elected office, remembered San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee for his integrity, humility and decency in the days following his unexpected death on December 12.

One concrete way Mayor Lee demonstrated his commitment to Labor and San Francisco workers was through his appointments to the Boards and Commissions that decide and implement policies that impact the quality of life and jobs in San Francisco. The San Francisco Building Trades Council and San Francisco Labor Council have long advocated for union representation on those bodies. Mayor Lee appointed many union leaders to important positions. Organized Labor spoke with some of the appointees about the Mayor and his legacy.

Adding to robust development in the city's Eastern neighborhoods, the University of California San Francisco currently has four major projects under construction in Mission Bay and Dogpatch. Groundbreaking took place last April for the Precision Cancer Medicine Building that's slated to begin treatment of patients in 2019. A month later, the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Neurosciences Building and the Minnesota Street Graduate Student and Trainee Housing projects were approved by the University's Board of Regents; and the Center for Vision Neuroscience was approved in February.

San Francisco keeps growing and changing and defining itself as a world-class city in the 21st Century. From the Salesforce Tower to the Transbay Transit Center, the future is now. But that future is for the many, not just the few, as our list of the Best Projects of 2017 can attest. And some are even firmly rooted in the past.

What the city of San Francisco has cooking to come on line in the coming years is quite remarkable. From a world-class arena and world-class medical facilities to a long-needed addition to the Golden Gate Bridge and the second tallest building in the city, there’s plenty to be excited about.